Apocalypto.

Dir: Mel Gibson
Starring: Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujilo, Gerardo Taracena.
2006, colour, 135 mins.


For some reason, when this film came out I had no interest in seeing it. I'd seen the trailers and it just didn't grab me. The poster (left) looked cool and Mel Gibson as a director had slight appeal but overall, neh. Recently a few of my friends have been telling me to give it a second chance so when I saw it at JB as part of a 3 for 2 offer I figured "why not?"

Jaguar Paw is a tribesman in the Mesoamerican jungle. He has a child and a wife pregnant with another. He and his tribe live a simple life and a sense of humour seems to be prevalent in the village as displayed via the opening sequence where a fellow hunter (who appears to continually be the butt of jokes) is told to devour the testicles of a boar which he does so rather graphically. Another tribe encounters Jaguar Paw and his hunters, asking for permission to pass through their section of the jungle. They seem quite afraid, hesitant. The next morning, the camp is attacked by outsiders who kill some of the tribesman but take most hostage. Jaguar Paw manages to hide his wife and child in a well and promises to return for them but becomes captured himself. The remainder of the film is basically his journey to get back to his family.

Having no real expectations before watching this film made it a rewarding experience that I don't get very often. I'd never heard strong opinions one way or another in contrast to most of the time seeing a film with some idea of the kinds of friends of mine like it and those that don't, or the kinds of critics that like it and the kind that don't. Gibson surprised me with his handling of it all. He's a good director. He seems to have a desire not to gloss over brutal realism and all of the violence depicted in this film is a testament to that. I think that's probably what impressed me the most in a sickening kind of way: it makes you take the violence seriously because of how visceral it is. When the hearts are removed from the tribesmen, their heads are cut off and thrown down the steps of the pyramid followed by their bodies you believe it's happening. I think the suspension of disbelief is amplified by the use of Mayan as the language for the film. Imagine if it had been english? You probably wouldn't have cared about anything that was happening. Subtitles can get a bit tiring after a while but it helps you to engage because it's so foreign to you. You have to rely on someone else for the meaning of the words so you don't invest as much time into picking apart all other aspects of the film.

This is probably the best use of digital film I've seen and I attribute that to the fact that most of the film takes place in well lit environments with vivid colours. Film would have been nicer because the high action sequences tend to blur in an unnatural way, taking you out of the film for brief moments while you contemplate the inconsistency in visuals. Or maybe that's just me. The cast are good: none of them really overplay and Youngblood does a solid job carrying the film on his shoulders and everyone supporting him do well too. None stand out more than the other. The production design is something to behold though. The majority of what happens onscreen is done with physical effects and the visual effects tend to blend in to it all. The level of detail is great.

There's not much to dislike here. No flashy direction gets out of the way of the simplicity of the story and the efficiency of the action. There's heartwrenching moments, gag-enducing moments and moments where you cheer for what's happening. This is not a film you watch casually, you have to engage in it totally. If you do, you'll be rewarded.


*** out of ****

Rosemary's Baby.

Dir: Roman Polanski
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassevetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Ralph Bellamy.
1968, colour, 131 mins.


Roman Polanski was always an oddity to me. My father rented The Two Jakes in the late nineties and I remember the cover saying it was the sequel to Chinatown. The next time we went to the video store I searched out the cover for it with its' amazing green-smoke-haired Faye Dunaway coming from Jack Nicholson's cigarette. The first film I saw of his was The Ninth Gate which is, in retrospect, an odd first choice however I didn't know it was his at the time let alone who he was and what he'd done. I didn't think much of it when I saw it because to be honest, it's not much of a film and I forgot it quickly. A few years later in 2005 my friend Ben told me I could select a thing or two from JB Hi-Fi for my birthday. I chose this dreadful stand up comedy box set and a Roman Polanski boxset containing Knife In The Water, Cul De Sac and Repulsion. Umbrella (Australia) now offer this same boxset however in a Amary case, the version I had was in an awesomely designed digipak. I sold it a few years later having never watched any of the three. As you can imagine, I regret that now.

When I first saw The Pianist a few months ago I wondered how I'd never spent time on Polanski or his films before. He is a master. No director has a perfect track record (except perhaps Paul Thomas Anderson but that's a pretty controversial statement) and Roman is no exception however his best films make you completely forget about his worst. Seeing Chinatown for the first time a few weeks ago made me fall in love with his visual style. I actually sought out seeing Rosemary's Baby before Chinatown (until I read Easy Riders, Raging Bulls & The Boy Stays In The Picture), trying to find it cheaply from JB or Borders but never having success. Finally I found it for $10 the other day at JB.

Farrow plays Rosemary who is married to Guy (John Cassevetes), a struggling actor in New York City. The film opens with them inspecting an apartment to purchase to begin a home life together and hopefully a family. The building has an odd history of tenants and even some of the current tenants are a little on the off side. They (reluctantly) make friends with an elderly couple in the building, Minnie and Roman Castevet who are well travelled and world weary bizzaros. While struggling to get a gig Guy decides he wants to take starting a family more seriously, much to Rosemary's delight. Unbeknownst to her though, Guy makes a deal with the devil for fame and luck with his career in exchange for his wife carrying a son for the prince of darkness, Satan himself.

The first thing that struck me about this film is that it has barely aged a day. The performances are so natural - with the exception of the intentionally theatrical final scene - and excellent that they stand so far apart from the expectation of a horror film, especially one of this era. Cassevetes and Farrow are well matched and neither fight for control of their scenes; understatement is the name of the game under Polanski's direction in this and everyone plays ball. I don't know how Roman pulled a cast with an amazing array of Golden Age actors and actresses together with one or two young faces, but it makes a great film even better. A special mention to Charles Grodin who caught me off guard in a later scene, his cynicism and bitter tone a prophecy of the majority of his future roles.

In Chinatown, the director set a warm and dreamy LA-in-the-summer mood with a visual style to match and he sets an appropriate tone here as well. There's nothing to jump out at you, nothing out of the ordinary in the muted colour palette painting New York City as not much of a character at all which is right in this scenario. It's only a backdrop. The location is of no consequence at all. Polanski shows no gore, nothing to make you go "eww". There are disturbing moments such as the 'dream' sequence in which Rosemary becomes inpregnated and the famous closing scene with Farrow's pitch-perfect reaction to her offspring. All throughout the horror built is contained within Rosemary's womb and mind. I suppose the problem with pulling off the same feat today is that it's mostly all been done before and to come up with a compelling more-than-paper-thin-setup, it seems, is getting harder and harder.

Watching Rosemary's Baby made me long for the same subtlety to be deployed in modern terror. It just doesn't happen enough anymore.


**** out of ****.